STAMFORD — Phase one of the Atlantic Street Bridge project is nearly complete, city cops said on social media Thursday.
The project, which intends to move the Interstate 95 exit ramp from Atlantic Street to Canal street, will continue into the second phase — lowering Atlantic Street, replacing the railroad bridge and adding a seventh train track — next week.
For more information on the project, including road closures, visit http://atlanticstreetbridge.com/. Project-specific social media accounts have also been made to update residents on the progress — atlanticstreetbridge on Facebook and @atlantic_street on Twitter. The construction is expected to keep the Atlantic Street underpass closed from Feb. 2019 to Sept. 2019. Most disruption to surrounding streets and train traffic are expected to be during late June and early July.
Interior to publish notice of Mohegan-state gaming amendment
Brian Hallenbeck
Connecticut’s third casino finally could get off the ground in East Windsor.
The project, stalled by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s failure to act on the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes’ amended gaming agreements with the state, got a huge boost Thursday, when the department announced it will publish notice Friday that the Mohegans’ agreement is taking effect.
Notice that the Mashantuckets’ agreement is effective is expected to follow.
“We are pleased that the department is taking this step and we expect similar action on the Mashantucket Pequot tribal amendments in the very near future," said Andrew Doba, a spokesman for MMCT Venture, the Mashantucket-Mohegan partnership pursuing the East Windsor casino. "Our goal has never changed. We want to do right by Connecticut and to preserve the strong relationship between our tribal nations and the state."
"Today's decision is the latest step in our overall goal to preserve thousands of good paying jobs and millions in state tax revenue," he said.
Friday’s notice will appear in the Federal Register, the daily journal of the U.S. government.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who had joined other members of the Connecticut delegation in calling for an investigation of the Interior Department’s failure to act on the amendments, said the investigation that's underway should continue.
“Interior has the right results but at the wrong time,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s permitting this agreement to take effect long after it should have approved it. The delay has been deeply harmful in practical terms and remains deeply suspect for all the reasons we asked the inspector general to investigate it.”
Blumenthal, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Reps. John Larson, D-1st District, and Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, requested the probe in February, citing reports that MGM Resorts International had managed to persuade Interior officials to avoid acting on the tribes’ amendments. MGM Resorts, the Las Vegas-based gaming operator whose soon-to-open Springfield, Mass., casino is expected to hurt the tribes’ southeastern Connecticut casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, got Nevada lawmakers to lobby Interior, according to news reports.
It was reported that Interior officials rejected the input of staff members who recommended the tribes’ gaming agreements be approved.
“I believe the inspector general’s investigation should continue to a conclusion and it must ... to uncover whether there was any conflict of interest or other wrongdoing," Blumenthal said. "Why did it take so long to do the right thing?”
“Time is an important factor,” Blumenthal said.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed the law authorizing the tribes’ East Windsor casino in June 2017. The authorization was contingent on federal approval of the gaming amendments incorporating the third casino. When the Interior Department failed to act on the amendments, the state and the tribes filed a federal lawsuit seeking to compel action.
The suit, which is pending, contends that because Interior failed to act on the amendments within 45 days of their submission, the amendments, under Indian Gaming Regulatory Act regulations, should be considered "deemed approved."
In its response, Interior argues that the Mashantuckets should be dropped from the suit because their casino (Foxwoods) operates under gaming procedures prescribed by the Interior secretary rather than in accordance with a state-tribal compact, which is the case with Mohegan Sun.
Blumenthal said he expects Interior to publish the Mashantuckets’ amended agreement in the same way it's publishing the Mohegans’ amendment.
“We expect it will be the same,” he said. “We have reason to believe it will and it should be. Whatever the distinctions raised by other parties, the results should be the same.”
State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, a staunch advocate of the tribes’ third casino plan, said she expects publication of the Mashantuckets’ amendment “very shortly.”
“This is just where we want to be,” she said. “We need to start the process of protecting jobs and revenue for Connecticut.”
Osten has advocated a legislative “fix” to eliminate the need for the tribes to secure federal approval of their amended agreements. That’s no longer necessary, she said.
N. Britain 'Bee' bridge work starts Fri.
The city of New Britain breaks ground Friday for a $7.5 million, two-year makeover of a key downtown span into the "Bee Hive Bridge."
Mayor Erin Stewart will join other state and local officials at 1 p.m. at the Main Street/Route 72 overpass, at the entrance to the downtown New Britain CTfastrak station.
Reworking the span will improve pedestrian and bike traffic in and out of downtown, officials said. Once revamped, the bridge also will reconnect sections of downtown split decades ago with the opening of Route 72 in the 1970s.
A key design feature of the renovated bridge will be four beehive sculptures and a multi-colored, honeycomb pedestrian enclosure. The beehive and honeycomb are nods to the city's industrial roots, also reflected in the city's official seal.
Work is due for completion in fall 2019.
Mass. manufacturer moving to Putnam
Gregory Seay
The state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) and the governor's office also announced Thursday that DECD will provide a $1.5 million, partly forgiveable loan to Magnetic Technologies Ltd.
The closely held, 34-year-old, Oxford, Mass., maker of magnetic and electromagnetic clutches and brakes for the wire and cable industry, will purchase a lot in the Putnam Industrial Park, on Highland Drive, and begin construction of the headquarters next year, officials said.
"The Putnam location and the new facility will provide the foundation for our continued growth," Magnetic President John DeLuca said.
Putnam Mayor Norman Seney hailed Magnetic's plans, saying the town "is committed to support and nurture this business …"
Federal Regulators Clear Way For East Windsor Casino
Federal regulators are clearing the way for the tribal operators of Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun to partner in building the state’s first commercial casino in East Windsor.The U.S. Department of the Interior is expected to publish a much-delayed notice Friday that satisfies concerns in Connecticut that the Mohegan tribe’s revenue-sharing agreement with the state won’t be jeopardized if they partner with the Mashantucket Pequots, who operate Foxwoods. The Interior Department did not give any explanation Thursday, and a spokesman did not have any immediate comment.
Andrew Doba, a spokesman for the tribal joint venture, said Thursday a similar notice for the Mashantucket Pequots is expected to be published by the Interior Department in the “very near future.”
“Our goal has never changed,” Doba said. “We want to do right by Connecticut and to preserve the strong relationship between our tribal nations and the state. Today’s decision is the latest step in our overall goal to preserve thousands of good paying jobs and millions in state tax revenue.” The publication of the notices would satisfy the last requirement of the state law passed last year that, for the first time, approved the expansion of casino gambling off tribal lands.
The expansion is aimed at keeping gambling dollars and preserving jobs tied to the gambling industry in Connecticut in the face of MGM Resorts International’s Aug. 24 opening of a $950 million casino and entertainment complex in Springfield.
Doba declined Thursday to comment on a timetable for construction until the Mashantucket notice is published. Demolition of an abandoned movie theater on the site off I-91 began in March, and financing must still be lined up.
There could be other legal roadblocks to construction, however.
MGM has, so far, unsuccessfully fought the expansion in court, where MGM argued that Connecticut wrongly denied the gambling giant an opportunity to compete. But MGM has vowed to continue the fight.
In a statement late Thursday, MGM said the Interior Department’s reversal came with no supporting justification and contradicted its earlier actions. MGM pledged to file a Freedom of Information request to uncover the chain of events leading up to its decision to publish the notice.MGM also made it clear it would not give up its fight to stop construction in East Windsor. The gambling and entertainment giant said it would continue to advocate for legislation to establish open competition to give all potential operators a chance to make proposals for Connecticut.
“We believe our proposed world-class entertainment complex in Bridgeport is the best option for creating new jobs and revenue, and we will vigorously advocate for our legal rights,” MGM said.
MGM indicated it would return to court to challenge the constitutionality of the law that allowed the tribes to exclusively expand “if that’s what it takes to prevail.”
Supporters of the expansion cheered the move by the Interior Department.
“I never thought this outcome was in question, but I’m glad it’s finally happened,” said Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, a vocal proponent of the casino expansion who represents the district that includes Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods. “This decision puts us just where we want to be: continuing to protect jobs in Connecticut and revenue for the state.”
The federal approval focused on the agreements or “compacts” that give the state a 25 percent cut of monthly slot revenue, about $250 million last year. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE